Tag Archives: whativelearned

I used to do these “What I’ve Learned” lists every year. I’m going to do them more.

Resistance is not a reason not to do things. It may be an invitation to explore further. It’s also not a reason to shut down and “power through” without feeling.

Having a structure to my day is one of the only ways I can stave off feeling like a useless burden on society. Writing just three things that I’d like to accomplish the night before and being able to cross them off is helpful (a framework I learned from Gina Trapani). When I don’t do this, it starts a spiral of self-judgment and shame around concepts like “wasting my life” and “not living up to my potential” that actually get me further mired, rather than leading to action.

My voice is not essential in conversations about politics, and the best way to use my privilege is to amplify the voices of those being primarily affected by oppression.

I am sad a lot. I have a habit of self-medicating/numbing out to avoid sadness. I’m trying to sit with it more. If I can sit with my emotional state for 30 seconds longer than I did yesterday and then numb out if I want to, then that is an accomplishment that I can feel proud of.

I have real challenges with internally-generated motivation. Motivating myself and feeling ‘positive’ (i.e. motivating) emotions like excitement and anger get quickly redirected into shame (as well-documented in The Change Triangle). This motivation -> shame cycle is often misdiagnosed as depression (though I have also historically struggled with depression, I’ve thankfully . I am addressing this. This shall be addressed.

Our brain on automatic is a pattern-making machine. Our consciousness can help bring awareness to the patterns through which we live our life, and break the ones that don’t suit us. Be very careful about which patterns you choose to keep around.

Computers are tools to be used for tasks. They are not a lifestyle.

We have as much freedom as we decide we have. Once we can get outside of our patterns enough to notice this, even for a moment, we are free. Which is not to say that we don’t also need reminding sometimes.

Cutting our losses takes courage, continuing for the sake of it does not take as much courage.

There’s no substitute for getting our hands in the dirt.

A great warning sign that we might not be in the right place is when people measure success by things we don’t care about (like money, or attention, or popularity, or whatever). Especially when the success being measured is ours.

If it can be erased by a magnet, it isn’t real.

Life is too short to follow the zeitgeist that much, unless it happens to coincide with what we’re interested in anyway.

Just because we’re on the right track doesn’t mean what we’re working toward is going to (or should) look anything like it does now.

About Me

Hi, I'm Jeremy Meyers. I'm fascinated by what makes us love what we love, what drives us to create, the personalities and process behind how creative works come together, and how those works influence those that experience them.
In 2011, I started Deeper Context as a way to explore this professionally. My job is to have conversations that bring out people's passions and interests in a personal, intimate and emotionally resonant way. My clients currently include solo entrepreneurs, musicians and authors, and I'm always looking for more stories to tell.